Lakeville Police Department adds two officers, will hire a third

By CINDY DOW

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southcoasttoday.com

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Posted Nov. 29, 2012 at 4:56 PM

Posted Nov. 29, 2012 at 4:56 PM

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By CINDY DOW

Associate Editor

LAKEVILLE — By the beginning of the year, more than a quarter of the town's police officers will be new to the department. Over the course of the past six weeks, the department has hired two new officers and received authorization for a third. Two of the officers were appointed to fill existing positions that opened up; the third is being hired to address overtime issues caused by lack of staff.

"We're approximately at 47 percent of the budget this year. We've used $27,133 out of $57,000. I wanted to make the board aware of some of the reasons why we've had that this year," said Police Chief Frank Alvilhiera, explaining that the department was down two officers and had one on extended sick leave, requiring overtime to fill those shifts. "My hope is in December, we'll be straightening out the overtime."

Chief Alvilhiera said there has been an increase in court time this year, and several incidents where prisoners had to be monitored while at the hospital, all of which required overtime. The full department register is 15 officers, but with the officers out there have only been 12 to 13 to fill all of the shifts.

Daniel Vareika, who was already a part-time dispatcher and reserve officer, was appointed to replace Officer Tom Robinson, who retired this summer. Officer Vareika will be out of the police academy in a couple of weeks. Officer Emiliann Melo was appointed in October to fill the position opened up by the appointment of Officer Ryan Maltais, who became the School Resource Officer stationed at the Apponequet High School Nov. 1. Officer Jonathan Pare was appointed at the beginning of the month to replace Officer Zachary Porter, who left the department for a position in Middleboro. Chief Alvilhiera said he has been told verbally that another officer is planning to retire in December, but is unable to plan accurately because the officer has not made the decision official.

Chief Alvilhiera noted that the new officers are not new to policing. Officer Vareika will be fresh from the academy but has been a reserve officer and has worked for the department already. Officer Melo was an officer at Bridgewater State University, and has experience as a sexual assault investigator and is a RAD instructor. Officer Pare was an officer with the town of Chatham and, more recently, with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

Selectman Scott Belliveau questioned whether an additional position could be funded now, instead of waiting to see if an officer retires. Chairman of Selectmen Derek Maksy noted that if the position was hired based on the retirement, the officer could choose not to retire.

"If they don't retire, we'd have that additional person which — he's been cut to the bone since day one. I really wouldn't have a problem looking at one more officer. Then, if the person retires, we'd look at it and evaluate the whole department again to see, do you need to bring another person in, to replace that person, or can you get through — will things be straightened out by then with the overtime?" Mr. Maksy asked.

Chief Alvilhiera said he could cover the new officer and the retiring officer for a month, if need be. Mr. Belliveau pointed out that the additional officer would reduce the amount of money being spent for over time, so would actually prove to be a savings.

"That's part of what I'm looking at, too," said Mr. Maksy. "It may not be a bad idea, if that person doesn't retire, to have the additional officer because of the overtime expense."

Selectman John Powderly suggested that, while the board would like to see hard numbers from Chief Alvilhiera, this year's budget would be able to handle the additional officer. At a subsequent meeting, Chief Alvilhiera said the total salary, including clothing allowance, for the remainder of the year if the officer was appointed on the first of January would be $24,261. If the officer also took the highest priced health insurance plan it would cost the town $105,26.

Chief Alvilhiera said the state has hit the department with more training mandates for the upcoming year. He said there are no grants currently available to hire officers.

"My only fear with putting on a new officer is we don't know what's going to happen with the SRO position — I just read about the deficit in the school next year, is they going to say they're not going to fund that portion? I guess that's always up in the air on a year to year basis, too," he said.

The selectmen discussed the number of officers the department would have if an officer retires, and eventually decided the department needs the additional staffing.

"We were at 17 officers at one time, and 15 is barely functional for you — it's tolerable, but 14 and 13 is not working," said Mr. Belliveau.

Chief Alvilhiera said the next officer he wants to hire was the number two candidate when Officer Park was selected. He was trained in Vermont, and will require an exemption to work in the state, but Chief Alvilhiera said he has already been told that the officer will be granted the exemption based on the fact that he has completed training.

"If we had done this back in July, which we should have done, we'd have plenty of overtime and we wouldn't be worried about this," said Mr. Belliveau. "Instead, we're doing not-forward thinking here, we're really trying to solve a problem here before it becomes a bigger problem."

The selectmen voted to authorize Chief Alvilhiera to go forward with adding the new officer to the department. Mr. Powderly noted that the board had to be careful, in the case the other officer opts not to retire, that the board doesn't change its mind about adding the extra officer.